Samsung Launches Smartphone Charm Offensive [VIDEO]

The South Korean company has released a five-minute video that highlights the design process of its flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S3. The video details how the creative designers were inspired by natural elements such as water and sound, according to Samsung Tomorrow. The video was released online on Friday 24 August, the same day a US court ordered Samsung to pay $1bn to Apple in compensation for patent infringements.

Commenting on the judgment, Apple CEO Tim Cook, said: "We value originality and innovation and pour our lives into making the best products on earth. And we do this to delight our customers, not for competitors to flagrantly copy." This video, it is fair to say, is something of a response from Samsung.

In it, we meet Jacob Lee, VP of Mobile Design for Samsung, who says, "We wanted a more emotional, and stronger connection with our customers... So for both interface and product design, the emotional connection between the phone and the user was taken into account."

Samsung designers, the video says, travelled the world in search of inspiration. Hangil Song, product designer, saw harmony in the sky, cityscape and water at the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. Song tried to suggest water overflow in the Galaxy S3's window.

On some trips, Song observed pebbles in a stream that sparkled under sunlight and tried to figure out how to incorporate the flow of water alongside the light reflected into the design of the Galaxy S3.

"Because the home screen concept was based on the form and the movement of water, we first tested the sound of natural water," said Yonggu Lee, sound designer.

"But we soon found that liquids with more viscosity were better suited for recording. So we tested liquids such as milk, juice, and even yoghurt. The final sound effect chosen for the 'dialer' function, for example, was the sound of orange juice dropping into a small cup," Lee said.